{"nrhp_refnum":"99000111","name":"Franklin County Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Benton","county":"Franklin County","state":"IL","lat":37.99695606600005,"lon":-88.92257527499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick county jail with attached sheriff's residence at 209 West Main Street, Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, built 1905-1907 to designs by architect Joseph W. Royer and constructed by Rudolph Z. Gill.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the jail is locally significant under Criterion A in the area of law. It housed county and federal prisoners for about eighty-five years close to the county courthouse. It was built with steam heat, electricity, plumbing and sewers, and its attached residence let the sheriff's family supervise prisoners continuously.","narrative":"Built between 1905 and 1907, this brick jail with an attached sheriff's residence stands at 209 West Main Street in Benton, the Franklin County seat in southern Illinois. Urbana architect Joseph W. Royer designed it in Classical Revival style, and Rudolph Z. Gill built it for about $30,000. Cells were fitted to specifications from the Tysdale Jail Company of St. Louis, with room for thirty-two prisoners, and the building had steam heat, plumbing, electric lights and sewers from the start. For roughly eighty-five years it held county and federal prisoners, while the sheriff's family lived in the front section, and the sheriff's wife cooked for inmates until a prisoners' kitchen was added in 1958. A new jail opened in December 1990, ending its use. A local preservation society has since restored the porch, woodwork and other features. The jail is recognized locally for its role in county law enforcement between 1906 and 1948.","period_of_significance":"1906 - 1948","architect_builder":"Royer, J. R., Architect; Gill, R. Z., Builder (text also names Joseph W. Royer and Rudolph Z. Gill of Urbana, Illinois)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The county idled the building after a new jail opened in December 1990. The Franklin County Historic Preservation Society now owns it, has restored parts of it, and the form lists its current function as museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.413434-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/51/8928/28892851/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/99000111.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000111/d3b23b9302-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000111/d3b23b9302-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Franklin_County_Jail_in_Benton.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Franklin_County_Jail_in_Benton.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892851","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_County_Jail_(Benton,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687508"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/franklin-county/franklin-county-jail-99000111/"}